Everything Decemberguy says is right on: I'll add that the song mentions a couple of times how the history has been whitewashed. "Erased the parts he didn't like" has a double meaning: to literally erase features of the land, and to erase unpleasant events from history books. "Rewrite the book and rule the pages, Saving face" expresses how history books make the pioneering of America out to be a heroic thing, hiding the ugly past. It's a corollary on the old adage that winners write the history books. They "rule" the "pages".
I imagine that the line "we are not your allies" is being spoken to Native Americans by the whites coming across them. It's a heartbreaking thought.
I used to do a fair bit of eating and drinking at a place right next to the river in Peninsula, OH.
Everything Decemberguy says is right on: I'll add that the song mentions a couple of times how the history has been whitewashed. "Erased the parts he didn't like" has a double meaning: to literally erase features of the land, and to erase unpleasant events from history books. "Rewrite the book and rule the pages, Saving face" expresses how history books make the pioneering of America out to be a heroic thing, hiding the ugly past. It's a corollary on the old adage that winners write the history books. They "rule" the "pages".
I imagine that the line "we are not your allies" is being spoken to Native Americans by the whites coming across them. It's a heartbreaking thought.
I used to do a fair bit of eating and drinking at a place right next to the river in Peninsula, OH.